When a home is well air sealed or tight it may warrant an optional fresh air intake that pulls air from outdoors into the furnace and prevents partial vacuum situations.
High efficiency gas furnace fresh air intake.
See reference 5 in sealed combustion units as most high efficiency furnaces are.
The concentric vent kits are normally used on fireplaces or other mid to standard efficiency direct vent appliances mnc123 jan 4 14 at 6 46.
Unfortunately the fresh air intake you have described is the second type and does not provide direct combustion air to the furnace room as it is directly connected to the return air plenum for.
If a furnace has an afue rating of 90 percent or greater it is considered condensing.
A heat recovery ventilator or hrv is an optional device separate from the furnace that works as an air to air heat exchanger.
However this does not mean that your home does not need a fresh air intake just because you have a high efficiency furnace.
In these types of furnaces the exhaust is vented outside via a pvc pipe.
Since high efficiency furnaces draw air directly from outside the furnace itself does not require a fresh air intake in order to replace inside air that otherwise would have been drawn from the room the furnace is located in.